In-School Professional Learning Program
For History and Humanities teaching teams
This In-School Professional Learning offering has been designed by educators for educators. It will get your whole History teaching team on the same page, discussing and experimenting with a professional learning focus of your choosing. The program explores the role of historical thinking skills as part of a ‘Knowledge Rich Curriculum’, and celebrates the careful sequencing and storytelling that makes learning History so enjoyable.
It also encourages and supports ‘Whole School Curriculum Planning for History’ by bringing teaching teams together to identify, explore and reflect on their chosen areas of interest.
The sessions include content delivery (including unpacking the new History 2.0 curriculum), and opportunities for group discussion and planning. Teachers are also provided with resource packs to support their classroom teaching and ongoing professional learning.
The Demand
Many History teachers miss out on subject-specific professional learning.
Their school’s Professional Learning Communities are likely to focus on topics that the Humanities teachers, or all teachers, have in common. Schools are also increasingly reluctant to release teachers to connect with peers and subject experts outside the school.
After a successful pilot in 2025, HTAV can offer a program which ensures all History teachers within a school can develop their subject-specific knowledge and skills, and a shared vocabulary with which to discuss their History teaching practice.
The Program
The standard program consists of 3 essential elements.
- Session 1: In person learning and planning together
- Teacher Experiment (Optional): Teachers work individually or together to trial an aspect of the learning with their classes.
- Session 2: Online learning, progress discussion and problem-solving
- Session 3: In person facilitated peer learning and next steps
In collaboration with HTAV, each school can choose the dates and times of all 3 sessions to best suit their staff needs and school timetables.
If your school prefers instead to explore any of the topics through a single one-off session, or by combining all 3 sessions into a full day program, HTAV can work with your school to customise this program for you.
Your school will choose one topic from the menu below for your whole History teaching team to engage with.
HTAV will consult with curriculum leaders prior to the program’s commencement to understand your school’s teaching and learning goals and tailor the sessions accordingly.
Menu of Topics
| Whole School Curriculum Planning for History | Teachers will consider the benefits that whole-school planning offers when compared with individual or year-level-team planning. Teachers will work together to agree on common themes that might be explored across year levels, and the logical sequencing of skill and knowledge development so that students feel a growing sense of expertise and confidence. After the first workshop, using this shared ‘map’, teachers will plan for their Year Levels in more detail before coming together to problem-solve and finalise the whole-school curriculum plan for History. Come away with a shared vision along with collaborative and detailed curriculum materials to enhance the teaching and learning experience. |
| Teaching and Assessing Historical Thinking Skills | Develop a consistent understanding and vocabulary across your whole History teaching team. What are the Historical Thinking Concepts and Skills, where did they come from, how and why are they woven into the curriculum, how do they relate to the vital achievement standards, and how should they be incorporated into assessment tasks? Plan for effective scaffolding and implementation of the historical skills across your units. |
| Analysing Historical Perspectives and Interpretations | These are two separate historical thinking concepts that are central to the History discipline. Move your students beyond ‘identifying bias’ in primary sources. There is richer learning to be had from analysing diverse perspectives and understanding why the world looks different from where you are standing. Move your students beyond ‘throwing in some quotes’ from historians. Exploring the role of historians and other interpreters of the past can lead to richer classroom discussions and more sophisticated responses to assessment tasks. This session will explore tools, resources and activities that help students better understand the nuances of analysing historical perspectives and interpretations. |
| Using Historical Sources | A back-to-basics learning program to ensure your whole History teaching team is comfortable with a range of historical source types, and is using the same vocabulary across the year levels as students develop their skills. Approaches to whole-school planning for effective, sequential skill development will also be introduced. |
| Assessment in the History Classroom | Improve the standard and range of assessments used in history classrooms. This program begins with understanding the intention and contents of the curriculum, and then explores the purpose of different assessment types, the vital role of formative assessment, meaningful rubrics for History, and more. |
| Teaching Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Topics in the new 2026 curriculum | This session will focus on how non-Indigenous teachers can develop and deliver History programs that are culturally respectful, curriculum-aligned, and logically sequenced. Participants will also be provided with quality resources that allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and perspectives to be more present in your classroom. We will unpack tools for teachers at all year levels to improve their subject knowledge and teach this topic with confidence, integrity and respect. |
History Fundamentals for Graduate or Out-of-field Teachers |
This session is aimed at graduate and out-of-field teachers who are new to teaching History (7-10 and VCE.) Participants will be taken through the History teaching fundamentals including understanding the curriculum and the historical thinking skills. They will explore discipline specific teaching and learning activities such as source analysis, and complete various short professional learning tasks aligned with these. We will support participants to complete their own thorough unit plan for any of their current History subjects. Participants will be provided with templates as well as professional reading resources. The learnings and skills gained through the workshop will equip teachers to effectively and collaboratively contribute to their broader whole-school History programs. |
The Cost
If your school would like us to, HTAV can reach out to other local or network schools to invite them to participate and share the costs.
Events Calendar
- 27 Feb 26
- 19 Mar 26
- 31 Mar 26
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